Today, there are a variety of blinds available in the market to cover windows or to partition spaces Generally, such venetian blinds have a headrail or a channel support that both supports the blinds and conceals the mechanisms that effectuate the raising, the lowering and the tilting of the louvers or slats. An example of such a mechanism for vertical blinds is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,162, entitled VERTICAL LOUVER BLIND OPERATING MECHANISM and assigned to the Assignee of the present invention, HOME FASHIONS, INC. of Santa Monica, California.
Often times the headrail is itself plain and it is desirous to cover it with a permanent valance assembly or cornice. This cornice or valance assembly is usually attached to the headrail or to the wall supporting the headrail.
The prior art is replete with such cornices and valance assemblies. For example, such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,935,988, 4,921,031, 4,384,605, 3,111,162, 2,640,533, 2,616,495, 2,604,155, 2,526,806, and 91,441 and French Patent No. 2.222.525. A further cornice is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,002, entitled WINDOW COVERING HEADRAIL CORNICE, also assigned to HOME FASHIONS, INC.
In designing a valance assembly, many diverse considerations must be taken into account. For example, of primary concern is that the valance assembly must be easy to assemble and disassemble for a consumer, both during the initial mounting and during cleaning or maintenance. People unskilled in the construction art must be able to do these tasks without any concern or hesitancy. To this end, the attachments and components of the assembly cannot be too complicated. In a modular system, a minimum number of parts is both preferred and desired. Interchangeable parts can also simplify the assembly of the components and significantly reduce the manufacturing costs. Further, the connections for the parts need to be simple, non-hazardous and uncomplicated. In addition, to comfortably put the system together and take it apart, it is advantageous to make the assembly so that it can be assembled and disassembled without the need for tools. Also, it must be strong so that it can withstand moves and any accidental dislodging And finally, the assembly must be pleasing to viewers from all angles in front of and to the side of it.